Tarrant Business

Lennar Corp. to begin homebuilding in Riverwalk development in Euless

EULESS — National homebuilder Lennar Corp. has bought 49 acres at the northwest corner of Airport Freeway and Texas 360 in Euless, the first land acquisition in the planned Riverwalk development since the project was announced nearly two years ago, the company said Wednesday.

Lennar said it will debut its new, more upscale home designs in the development, with home prices starting in low $300,000’s.

"Our Riverwalk homes will comprise the first of several new developments in the region where we will debut a new, upgraded product line that encompasses higher quality details and amenities in addition to a more upmarket architectural design," said Greg UrechÖ , Lennar’s land operations director in a statement. "We are proud to deliver a residential product that will appeal to today’s demanding Dallas-Fort Worth-area homebuyer."

Lennar bought the land from Dallas-based Stratford Land Co., which bought a 194-acre tract in April 2011 from a California real estate company that owned the property since 1993. A fashion mall was once planned for the site, but Stratford said it wanted to develop the tract for homes, shopping and hike-and-bike trails with a signature riverwalk feature.

"When Stratford acquired the property in 2011, we knew the location was exceptional," said Steve SandersÖ , Stratford Land’s senior investment manager for Texas. "Lennar’s decision to build at this location affirms our investment, and we are excited to see the residential area of Riverwalk come to life."

Groundbreaking on the first homes is scheduled for this summer, with a model home open by the first quarter of 2014, Lennar said. The company said it will initially build 200 homes, but that it has an option to double the number of homes.

Stratford said it is also talking with potential buyers for Riverwalk’s multifamily tracts. The company said it expects sales of the commercial tracts to happen soon thereafter. About 70 acres is set aside for commercial development.

When completed, Riverwalk will have approximately 480 single-family homes, 250 town houses and at least 500 apartments, as well as shops and restaurants.

The land stretches from Airport Freeway on the south, to Harwood Road on the north, Texas 360 on the east to near Fuller-Wiser Road on the west. Midway Drive bisects the tract east to west. During the 1990s, the Bear Creek Fashion Mall was proposed for the site, but never built.

_ Sandra Baker

Report finds area apartment industry has nearly $6 million economic impact

Apartment construction and operations contributed $5.9 billion to the metro Dallas economy in 2011 and support about 50,000 jobs, a report Tuesday by the National Multi Housing Council and the National Apartment Association finds.

The 2011 report is the latest figures available from the Washington-based groups. The metro Dallas area includes the 12-county North Texas region, including Tarrant County.

In Texas, the apartment industry contributed $93 million to the state’s economy and supported about 35,000 jobs in 2011, the report said.

The report covers the economic contribution of apartment construction, operations and resident spending on a national level plus all 50 states. Nationally, the apartment industry and its residents contributed $1.1 trillion to the economy in 2011.

"Although attention is usually focused on homebuilding and the single-family sector, the annual construction and operating outlays for apartment buildings with five or more units are major sources of economic activity, jobs and personal earnings," said Stephen Fuller, an economist at George Mason University, who worked on the study.

Added NMHC Chairman Thomas Bozzuto, "Even in one of the worst economic climates we’ve ever seen, the multifamily industry and its 35 million residents contributed more than $1 trillion to the economy. With up to seven million new renter households forming this decade, the dollars and jobs we add to the economy will only grow in magnitude."

_ Sandra Baker

Texas unemployment rate drops to 6.6 percent

Texas’ unemployment rate fell to 6.6 percent in October from 6.8 percent the previous month, as six of the state’s 11 major industries reported gains, led by education and health. Employers added 36,600 payroll jobs in the month and have added 269,000 jobs in the past year, which has seen all but one of the state’s major industries add positions, the Texas Workforce Commission said Friday. The annual gain amounts to 3 percent, well over the U.S. rate of 1.8 percent in the same time, and the state’s jobless rate is well below the national rate of 7.9 percent. The category that includes education and health jobs added 13,700 jobs in October, the largest monthly gain ever, TWC said. The category is up 43,000 jobs over the past year.

In Fort Worth-Arlington, employers added 4,600 new positions in October. The area’s unemployment rate was 6.1 percent, which is unadjusted for seasonal variations. It compares to the state’s unadjusted rate of 6.3 percent.

-- Jim Fuquay

Job fair in Arlington on Sept. 27

GM to add third shift and 800 jobs at Arlington plant

 

 General Motors has just announced plans to add a third shift at the Arlington Truck Assembly Plant in 2013 and will begin filling the first of an estimated 800 jobs later this year.

The Arlington plant currently employs about 2,500 hourly and salaried employees -- roughly 2,300 of them on the assembly line -- and operates two production shifts working 50-hours a week and more.

The plant produces GM's top selling  Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban, GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade full-sized sport utility vehicles, and built a record 282,000 in 2010. In 2011, the plant produced nearly 270,000 vehicles and GE said demand for the full-size SUVs remains stable.

GM, in a press release, said the third shift will enable Arlington to meet market demand for the current generation of full-size SUVs and provide relief for employees who have worked extensive overtime since the fourth quarter of 2009.

The installation of new tooling and equipment required to build GM’s new line of SUVs will limit vehicle production in 2013. A third shift will provide the plant needed production capacity during this transition time.

GM is already adding to the Arlington plant to add equipment for stamping body parts for the 2014 model vehicles.

- Bob Cox

 

GM offering public tours of Arlington assembly plant

General Motors is offering public tours its Arlington assembly plant for three days this week to see vehicles being produced on the assembly line.

This will be the first public tours since the Super Bowl week 20111, when bad weather and ice forced GM to cancel planned tours.  Tour times are 11:30 to 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 7:40 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday.

Pre-registration is required and can only be done online at: http://arlington.gmplantnews.com

GM will allow visitors touring the plant during the open house events to bring cameras and take pictures.

Visitors must wear closed-toe shoes. No open-toed, open-heeled shoes or high heels, sandals, crocs or flip flops are allowed in the  manufacturing area.

The GM assembly plant in Arlington began production in January of 1954 and currently employs more than 2,500 people producing GMC Yukon, Chevrolet Suburban, Chevrolet Tahoe, and Cadillac Escalade sport utility vehicles. The plant produces approximately 1,162 vehicles daily.

- Bob Cox

Private Equity Council releases report

Texas topped the list where private equity firms invested the most money in 2011, the Washington, D.C.-based Private Equity Growth Capital Council said today.

About $21 billion went to 206 Texas-based companies, the group said. Texas was followed by New York, California, North Carolina and Oklahoma.

The organization even goes so far to break it down by congressional districts. Most of the private equity went to congressional districts in Houston, San Antonio and Dallas.

Congressional District 18, U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, D-Houston, private equity invested $3 billion in 19 companies.

Congressional District 20, U.S. Rep. Charles Gonzalez, D-San Antonio, private equity invested $6 billion in 4 companies.

Congressional District 7, U.S. Rep. John Culbertson, R-Houston, private equity invested $373 million in 21 companies.

Congressional District 10, U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, private equity invested $814 million in 20 companies.

Congressional District 32, U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Dallas, private equity invested $2 billion in 17 companies.

In 2011, private equity invested more than $144 billion in the U.S. economy, with 20 states receiving more than $134 billion of that capital, the group said.

"Over the next several months, we expect the general election to amplify the conversation about private equity," said Steve Judge, president of Private Equity Growth Capital Council, in a statement.

_ Sandra Baker

Former Dallas Fed chief McTeer says Congress needs to reach budget compromise

Congress must reach a compromise bill to avert deep automatic spending cuts beginning next year that would cut too deeply into defense, Robert McTeer, the former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas said in Fort Worth Thursday.

Problem is, the fall elections are in the way, McTeer, who served as Dallas Fed chief between 1991 and 2005, said during a speech at a National Center for Policy Analysis luncheon at Colonial Country Club. The specter of big defense cuts, on top of ones already underway, "might bring the Republicans into a compromise attitude," McTeer said.

But those talks need "to be done real soon, and I don’t see any prospect of that," McTeer, who referred to the looming fight as a "fiscal cliff," said during an interview after the lunch.

The automatic cuts of more than $1 trillion over a decade will occur since Congress didn’t reach an agreement to cut the federal budget deficit last year.

McTeer, a distinguished fellow at the conservative Dallas-based think tank, said the nation’s economic recovery is weaker than appears.

"The numbers really haven’t improved all that much," he said.

Unemployment rates look better because a large number of discouraged jobseekers have left the workforce, housing hasn’t recovered, the fourth quarter’s gross domestic product gain was propped up by a buildup in inventories, and consumers are still smarting from the recessionary hit to their market portfolios and home equity, McTeer said.

Savers are shunning excess spending and boosting savings, good news for the future that nevertheless hurts the economy now, because it’s 70 percent driven by consumer spending, McTeer said.

"We’re better off, unless everybody does it," he said of the savings trend.

He lauded the Federal Reserve’s money-easing policies. "In my opinion, they saved our cookies," McTeer said.

The federal bank bailout, engineered by the Bush Administration in its final weeks in office, "saved the banking system and didn’t cost the taxpayers any money," McTeer said.

The massive federal stimulus package promulgated by President Obama and the Democrats "probably did a bit of good, but at a great fiscal cost," McTeer said.

McTeer was also critical of Obama’s campaign rhetoric proposing higher taxes for the wealthy.

"That’s created a lot of uncertainty and caused people to withdraw," he said.

McTeer questioned Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s recent announcements of its internal forecasts projecting a continued slow recovery.

"I worry about the flexibility he gives up," McTeer said in the interview.

McTeer also said he "personally" believes Bernanke is being conservative in the forecasts and may be looking for a recovery to pick up steam faster than the forecasts.

Of the upcoming budget talks, McTeer said, "it’s not necessary to eliminate the deficit. What’s important is that the deficit and debt as a percentage of GDP start back down. Politically, there’s going to have to be some compromise."

- Scott Nishimura

Texas, Fort Worth-Arlington jobless rates drop in March, Workforce Commission says

Texas added 10,900 jobs in March, the Texas Workforce Commission says this morning. Click here to read the st0ry at star-telegram.com.

- Scott Nishimura

 

Homebuilding increases for third straight quarter in North Texas

The number of new homes under construction was up in the first quarter compared to a year ago, the third straight quarter that new home builders have increased the number of homes they are building, the result of strong sales orders, Metrostudy said Wednesday.

"The increasing sales should lead to larger increases in starts over the next two quarters as backlogs are beginning to build for homebuilders," said David Brown, director of Metrostudy’s Dallas-Fort Worth office. Metrostudy tracks home-building activity in North Texas.

"The first three months of the year are reinforcing our forecast that 2012 will be the first year of recovery in the Dallas-Fort Worth housing market," he said.

Tarrant, Denton and Collin counties accounted for most of the increase in starts, Metrostudy said.

New home closings are also increasing from the second half of 2011, Brown said, and that is expected to continue as well.

Between January and March, 3,192 homes were started, compared to 2,975 homes in the first quarter of 2011. On an annual basis, which takes in the past four quarters, home starts in Dallas-Fort Worth totaled 14,277, down slightly from 14,524 annual starts totaled in the first quarter of 2011, figures show.

In the last three years, quarterly and annual home starts peaked in the second quarter of 2010, during the time the first-time homebuyers were offered a tax incentive.

Also in the first quarter, builders closed the sale of 3,327 homes, up from 3,179 closings in the first quarter of 2011.

Inventory declined significantly in the first quarter, to 7,370 homes built from 7,671 homes a year ago, and is now at its lowest point since 1993, Brown said.

Lot inventory also dropped, to 57,645 lots, or a 48-month supply, from 65,724 lots, a 54-month supply, a year ago.

With the improving new home market, prices could go up this year, particularly in stronger submarkets, Brown said.

"As lot supplies continue to shrink in the high demand submarkets, the cost of replacement lots is increasing," he said. "These higher costs will have to be passed on to the consumer resulting in increased new home prices during the second half of the year."

_ Sandra Baker